Those Who Remain
by jackjack2
Summary: A dive into the minds of Team RNJR as they traverse Remnant towards Haven. On the way they discover the hidden kingdom of Refuge. Not all is as it seems...
1. Chapter 1

_The path to the future is strewn with the bodies of the past._

Jaune shook his head, dismissing the unwanted thoughts that continued to crowd his head. These had become more the norm than the exception over the last several weeks. As he looked up at the streams of light sliding through waves of leaves his mind slipped back to that day, that horrible day. He remembered it as though he were still standing there, waiting...

 _...It felt like it had been hours by the time he'd reached Beacon. He'd arrived, gasping, only to find Weiss staring up at the flash of red streaking straight up the side of the tower...was that Ruby? Flames exploded from Ozpin's former office and the huge gears that had once worked the massive clock began to rain down, smashing upon the ground one after the other. Then there was that horrible, all-consuming blaze of white which made him think the pale moon had finally shattered completely... then nothing. No word from Pyrrha, no sign of Ruby or Ozpin, not even an attack from the mysterious witch who'd murdered the Fall Maiden right before his eyes. There was absolutely nothing. Nothing he could do. He was powerless. Useless, just like he'd always been..._

"Jaune, how close do you think we are to this town here?"

Startled by the map that had been thrust in his face, Jaune jumped back a step and threw up his arms. Nora and Ren paused to snicker (Nora's was more of a snort), but Ruby lowered the parchment and looked up at him, concerned.

"Oh, sorry," she squealed, while somehow managing not to sound like a complete blond. "I didn't mean to..." She trailed off as she noticed the look in his eyes.

Jaune had always prided himself on showing as little emotion as possible. He had never wanted to be one of those really sentimental types, always crying or moping or being depressed. Instead he had tried to pretend like nothing touched him, like nothing really got to him. _'Like water off a King Taijitu's backs,'_ his mother had always said. Even after everything he didn't want to drag the team down with his own selfish sorrow. So he pushed it all away and managed to throw out a cocky grin.

"Whoa, Ruby, you scared me. I thought there was going to be a pop quiz or something."

Nora cracked up and Ren actually smiled, but Ruby's face told him that she saw through his attempted witticism.

"Anyway," he continued, grabbing the map while pretending to overlook her worried expression. "Based on how long its been since the last village, I figure we've still got at least a week until this next one."

"Oh man!" Nora whined. "I wanted to pick up some new socks. These are all worn out from all of this walking!"

It had to be said that Nora was less than a huge fan of long-distance travel on foot. As she trudged ahead grumbling about how she'd _'said we should at least get horses, if not an airship...'_ , Ren walked over and took a look at the map himself.

"I think you are correct," he agreed, nodding toward Jaune. "But if perhaps instead we traveled as the crow flies..." He traced a path through the forest, away from the roads. "We could in all probability make the journey in half as much time."

"Every day quicker is a day closer to Haven," Ruby added. "I say we go for it."

"Did you say quicker?" Nora exclaimed, having suddenly and immediately recovered from her moping. "Whatever it takes to get me some socks. Let's do it!"

Jaune frowned. "We would be right in the middle of the forest. There's bound to be hoards of Grimm, not to mention bandits, brigands, and who knows what else. Its a lot less safe. I don't want to lo..."

He'd been about to say, 'I don't want to lose anyone else', but a lump in his throat prevented the words from leaving. Thankfully Nora butted in, twirling her massive hammer around in the air.

"Ummm...hello? I'm pretty sure it's the Grimm who need to steer clear of us. We can handle anything these woods have got!"

Everyone was looking at him. Waiting. Waiting for an answer. Just like he had been. Waiting outside Ruby's room...

 _...Her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, shut the door to her room behind him. Jaune jumped to his feet. "Is she awake? Did she say anything? What happened to Pyrrha? What was that white light?"_

 _The older man stared sadly at him for several moments. Then he sighed and shook his head. "You should go home, Jaune. I'm sure your family wants to be with you, especially after..." He paused, swallowed, and continued. "I'll call you if anything changes, but no-one knows how long she'll be like this." The man's expression softened somewhat. "I know that you're anxious for any news, but...the fact still remains that your friend on Beacon Tower..." He trailed off, seeing in Jaune's eyes the refusal to believe what was undoubtedly true. Placing his hand on the young man's shoulder he simply added, "You can stay as long as you need."..._

"Jaune?"

Once again Jaune blinked back into reality. They were still waiting for him. At least this time he could give them an answer they would like.

"Let's do it."

* * *

Jaune slid his sword out of the corpse of the last Ursa. The few that remained were running back into the forest in hopes of avoiding the fate that had befallen their brethren. As he wiped the sticky blade on the grass he felt a pair of eyes upon him. He whirled around, but was met with only the sight of the swaying trees and the setting sun. He frowned, sure that something was awry, but unable to find any evidence of it. Shaking his head he rejoined his team, who were just setting up a campsite for the night. The thought of hot stew and coffee managed to almost completely overpower his sense of foreboding.

Almost.

* * *

The pair of eyes hovered unblinking behind the cover of a small bush. From the unwashed pot wafted the tantalizing aroma of fresh meat and vegetables. The small mouth began to salivate as it licked its lips in anticipation.

The sun had set hours before. The fractured moon was hidden behind a mantle of clouds. What little light there was glowed from the dying embers of the campfire.

Now the blond one, supposed to be alert and watching, began to nod off. His sword and shield slipped from his grasp, its sound dampened by the carpet of grass.

Now the pair of eyes crept forward into the clearing, its footsteps trained to avoid the slightest sound. With the patience of the trees themselves the creature inched towards its goal, freezing in place at even the most minute of noises.

Now the small hands reached out into the pot, wincing slightly as an incautious knuckle rubbed against the still-hot metal.

"Gotcha!" Jaune cried, grabbing the creature from behind. The other three immediately leapt up from their feigned sleep, weapons in hand.

The little girl in Jaune's grasp began to cry.

"Please don't kill me!" She wept pitifully, tears of shock and fear streaming down her face. "I wasn't gonna tell on you, I just wanted some food! I've been so hungry and alone in these woods and there were big monsters and mommy and daddy got lost and I couldn't find them and..."

The child blubbered on for several minutes until mercifully, either from fear, exhaustion, or perhaps both, she fell asleep in Jaune's arms.

The four friends stared at the little girl in disbelief.

"What. Just. Happened?" Nora asked, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "I thought you said there was some kind of monster following us, not a poor, lost little girl."

"I thought so too," Jaune declared, setting her down on his bedroll. Her face was smeared with mud and her clothes were torn in a dozen places, but she appeared no older than 8 years old.

"I guess all we can do is wait for morning," Ren observed. "Though I suppose we can piece together most of her story ourselves. A family outing in the woods, the girl gets lost, or more likely they are attacked by Grimm. She tries to find her parents, not knowing if they're living or dead, but just keeps getting farther from home. Based on the state of her appearance I'd say she been here at least a week, maybe more."

"How do you think she survived the Grimm?" Ruby asked, placing a blanket over the sleeping child. "For that matter, why didn't anyone come to find her?"

"This is more common than you'd think," Ren continued. "In these rural towns people disappear all the time and never come back. It's one of the risks of living in a Grimm-infested area. As for her, I guess she was just smart enough to avoid them. I mean, she almost snuck past us, and we're Huntsmen and Huntresses in training."

"We'll bring her with us to the next village," Jaune decided. "I'll bet that's where she's from anyway."

The little girl murmured in her sleep and rolled over.

"It's a scary thought," Ruby remarked, folding up her scythe and setting it on the ground.

"What is?" Jaune asked.

"You know. Being all alone in these woods, surrounded by Grimm, waiting for someone you know isn't coming, and completely unable to do anything about it. Not knowing if you'll ever stop running away from everything you've ever known."

Jaune looked over at Ruby. She was watching him closely, seeing how he would react. He looked down at the little girl with newfound compassion. _'And I thought_ my _problems were bad. This little girl has gone through all the same stuff I have, and she's all by herself.'_ Seeing the pitiful child sleeping peacefully he found himself slipping back to the past once again...

 _...he was sitting outside Ruby's house, his back against a huge oak tree. Multicolored leaves swirled around him, forming patterns of scarlet and orange across the dying grass, but he paid them no notice. Pyrrha was gone. In his heart he'd known it was true, but had still hung onto some slight vestiges of hope, forcing himself to believe that somehow she had escaped and made it to safety._

 _But then he'd looked into Ruby's silver eyes, and saw, for perhaps the first time, no joy, no hope, only loss, only pain._

 _So there he sat, alone, staring off at the high mountains whose peaks seemed to mock him with their lofty serenity._

 _"Jaune?" It was Ruby. Jaune didn't even acknowledge her presence. So she sat next to him, staring with him at those white-tipped mountainsides..._

"I just feel so lost," he murmured, echoing the same words he had finally spoken to Ruby, back on that miserable fall day. "Like there's nothing left to fight for."

"Ummm... we're not talking about the girl anymore, right?" Nora interjected.

Everyone glared at her.

"Okay. Juuuuuust making sure."

"Jaune," Ruby continued. "You've still got us. You're not in this alone. None of us are. We've all lost a lot, but that just makes what we've still got worth all that much more." Ruby looked again at the prostrate child. "Sure, we've been through some tough times, but we're all still really lucky. Know why?"

Jaune knew what was coming, but for once he was ready to face it, and to accept it.

"Because we've got each other. And that's enough to be thankful for."

The sound of Nora blowing her nose shattered the mood like it was glass in an avalanche. Everyone glared again.

"That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard you say," she sniffled, wiping her eyes with her pink gloves.

Everyone continued to glare.

"What?" Nora inquired defensively. "What did I do?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Inner peace. Like a crystal lake untouched by a single ripple. Like a night sky without clouds, without stars, without even a moon. Only in emptiness can the soul be full._

"Watch out Ren!" Nora screamed at the utmost top of her lungs. Ren sighed and swayed several inches to one side. A snarling Beowolf flew past, smashing into a tree behind him. Before it could recover its equilibrium Ren slashed his sickle-bladed guns Stormflower across its flanks. The creature melted into the signature Grimm pile of dust. Soon even that was gone, carried by the wind into places unknown.

"Nora, I saw that one coming," Ren remarked with as much patience as he could muster. Green flames burst from the barrels of his pistols as he engaged two more of the monsters. Sliding beneath the first he tore through its underbelly with a flick of his blade. Then, jumping to his feet, he firmly punched the second square in the nose before tossing it bodily into the air.

"One coming your way Jaune," he called out in his friend's direction. Much to his surprise, Jaune looked up to see a shrieking Beowolf plummeting towards him. Planting his feet, the boy sliced the confused creature out of the air. As the two halves melted away he turned towards Ren with a questioning expression. In response Ren merely smiled. It was good to see that Jaune was improving, both in confidence and ability.

Drawing a deep breath, Ren surveyed the scene before him. Two dozen or so Grimm, mostly Beowolves, surrounded the clearing, making darting attacks in ones and twos against the steadfast Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. ' _It's odd,'_ he thought to himself. ' _Typically they are far more aggressive, attacking in massive hordes. That they should abandon their normal patterns is...concerning.'_

He knew that on an ordinary day a fight like this would have been over quickly. Despite the Grimms' numbers, the four warriors could easily have dispatched of any number of smaller creatures with relative ease. It was what they had trained their whole lives to do. It was to this each would dedicate his or her future. A few Beowolves were a walk in the metaphorical park.

But this was no ordinary fight. This time they were trying to protect someone. Ren's eyes searched the trees carefully. For a heart-stopping moment, he could not find her.

There! Amidst the emerald flags, standing upon a precariously thin branch a half-dozen yards off the ground was the huddled form of the young girl they'd found the night before last. ' _Ella,'_ Ren remembered. ' _She said her name was Ella.'_

The small girl looked this way and that at the swarms of demonic monsters surrounding her and her newfound friends. ' _She doesn't seem particularly worried,'_ Ren noted. ' _As if she is experiencing the whole scene looking through a pane of glass, or merely watching the reflections of images in a mirror.'_

The team had been forced to constantly protect her from the assaults of the Grimm on the camp. ' _They seem drawn to her,'_ Ren mused. ' _Like bees to honey…'_

As if to prove his point, a small group of Beowolves burst through the three defenders and ran snarling towards the tree in which Ella crouched.

' _Seize the momentum of the battle'_ The words of his teacher echoed in his ears. Just as they always did.

He leapt forward, bowling the first few to the ground with his outstretched legs. Without even the slightest pause he flung himself into the air. ' _Always attack from above when you can. They're less likely to kill you that way.'_

It must be said that his teacher had been rather blunt.

As he dived towards his disoriented foes he felt that familiar savage joy rising from within him. _This_ was what he loved to do. _This_ was what he truly was.

' _Control yourself!'_ The words shot through his mind like the bullets from his weapons. The frowning face of his teacher loomed up within him. ' _To control the body you must first control the mind! You must never give in to the passions! You must clear yourself of all distraction, both from without and from within. Only then can you act. For action without control brings only failure!'_

Ren snapped back to himself, shaking away the rash impulses that had been prompting him forward. Even as he plummeted down into the Grimm beneath him, he realized his mistake. He had been too aggressive. The Beowolves, seeing the little girl still crouching on a tree branch, ignored Ren completely and sprang forward towards the defenseless child. Ren managed to impale the creature closest to him, but the remaining three launched themselves into the air, their pointed teeth gnashing as they quickly closed the distance between themselves and Ella's hiding place.

As it always seems to in these scenarios, time seemed to slow down. Ren watched in horror, unable to do anything to help as the salivating jaws began to close upon their cornered prey. His gaze somehow flicked over to his three friends. Ruby and Nora were just dispatching the last of the Grimm before them, completely oblivious of what was transpiring behind them. Only Jaune had even noticed, and he was too far away to do anything but cry out in shock.

' _This is my fault,'_ echoed through Ren's skull a thousand times in that brief second.

The teeth closed.

* * *

The rippling light of Aura erupted around Ella's outstretched arm. In the air before her palm a shield of pulsating emerald flared into view. The oncoming Beowolves were thrown back through the air. Their ashes had dissipated before they had even reached the ground.

The girl smiled and lowered her arm. The lights vanished. Having looked around for further opponents and finding none, she slid down the trunk of the tree, tripped on a root, and was sent sprawling to the ground.

Jaune, Ruby, and Nora sprinted over. Ren yanked his blade from the dissolving remains at his feet and stood shakily. All four stared at the small child brushing herself off.

Ella smiled.

"What's wrong? You all look like you've seen the Great Terror itself."

"I'm gonna pretend I know what that is," Jaune began. "And just ask the question on everyone's mind: what…..?"

"What happened is clear." Ren spoke softly, his voice betraying somewhat his awe at what he had just seen. "How it happened..."

His voice trailed off. The girl's emerald eyes flicked back and forth among the four standing before her. Her eyebrows were furrowed in a look of confusion.

"I still don't know what you are all talking about," she continued as a slight hint of alarm began to eat away at the corners of her smile. "You were all fighting those monsters, some of them attacked me, and I just did what Teacher always told us to do."

"Is it even possible for Aura to be used offensively like that?" Ruby asked, looking towards Ren.

' _I guess I'm officially the expert on Aura,'_ Ren reflected briefly. Pushing the errant thought away he voiced what had been bothering him for the past several minutes.

"In short, yes. I've done it myself a few times, albeit never to this degree. But I've been working and training my entire life to master myself to the point where I could even produce a thin reflective barrier. For a little girl of 7 to produce such a powerful shield, one that could destroy any Grimm that touched it…"

"Hey! I'm almost 8!" Ella burst out. "And Teacher has been training my friends and I for a really long time. He said we would become _great_ Guardians some day. But I was thinking about maybe going out to see the rest of the world first, just like my friend Aja's older sister Py…"

Finally the little girl noticed the blank looks on the faces of everyone around her. Her youthful naiveté prevented her from understanding why they seemed incapable of comprehending what she was saying.

"If I could find my way home I could show you," she added, her eyes downcast as the sad reality of her current situation suddenly weighed down on her again. "Mommy and Daddy said if I ever got lost they would find me, but I waited for them and they never came back." Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Ren wasn't sure how to react. His aversion to emotion in general prevented him from truly understanding how to deal with others in times such as this. With the exception of a few bro-talks with Jaune, he'd never really tried to help people with their emotional problems. Thankfully his dilemma was solved by Ruby, who knelt next to the girl and hugged her tight.

"It's gonna be okay," she consoled the child softly. "We're gonna find your home _and_ your parents. And we'll protect you from all the monsters too."

"Really?" sniffed the little girl.

"Really." Ruby stood, her hand still resting on Ella's shoulder. "Now we just need to find out where this home of yours is. Do you think you could point it out on the map?"

"Ruby, we've already tried that," Jaune interjected. "Ella didn't recognize the names of _any_ of the towns."

"Perhaps we've been looking at this the wrong way," Ren remarked, still deep in thought. "What if her town happens to not be on the map?" Taking the map from Jaune he held it in front of the girl's face. "Ella, I want you to ignore the villages. Look at all of the mountains and rivers. Do any of them seem familiar?"

Ella stared intently at the rumpled piece of paper, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Ren almost chuckled at how young and innocent she looked. It was hard to believe that this small child could be so incredibly powerful.

Ren hadn't wanted to scare his friends, but a feat such as the one Ella had performed would have required not only copious amounts of energy, but complete focus and control of one's will. ' _Aura is the manifestation of your soul.'_ He could still hear his teacher's words. He shuddered at the memory. ' _A semblance is_ _your soul's personal and unique way of...expressing itself. For you, that expression is, shall we say, rather uncontrolled. Your entire life will be spent in the pursuit of perfect dominance of the mind over the will. You may not be the fastest, or the strongest, but if you learn to do this, if you can empty yourself of all of the chaos within you, you will be able to overcome whatever confronts you. And then, young Ren, your semblance may no longer be such a burden, nor such a curse.'_

"Here!" shouted the elated girl happily. "This mountain hides my home, my village. I can tell from the stream that passes right through it. I've swum every inch of it with all my friends."

"It's not too far," Jaune said, pointing to their own position on the map. "Not more than a day's walk out of our way."

"Then let's get started," Ren rejoined. "I for one am interested to meet this Teacher of yours."

"Oh, he'd love you!" Ella began as the five began to gather their belongings. "He's really into the whole 'zen ninja' thing and meditating and all that stuff. He said that when…"

As Ella babbled on about her life back at home, Ren's mind began to wander off in other directions. The empty pieces of a puzzle seemed strewn around him, but he could make no sense of it all. There was an incredibly talented child, a non-existent town, a forest full of Grimm and to top it off a strange sense of foreboding, like the team was going off on an adventure none of them would return from.

' _Trust your instincts, but not your feelings. The heart is too easily led astray. You must first empty yourself. Only then can you be trusted to act. Only then can you achieve what you have been seeking.'_

' _But what_ am _I seeking? And is it the right thing?'_

Always there were questions. Rarely were there answers.

Ren sighed and trudged on.


	3. Chapter 3

' _Just keep grinning. Look happy. You've got to keep everyone's spirits up. They're relying on you, whether they know it or not. Oh, here's your chance! Say something stupid!'_

"Boy am I hungry!" Nora exclaimed, significantly louder than was necessary. "And my feet are **killing me.** Is there like, I dunno, a restaurant or diner somewhere out here where we can stop and get a bite and maybe actually **rest** for a minute?"

"Nora," Ren said answered calmly, despite his obvious chagrin at having his silent concentration broken. "We happen to be in the middle of a Grimm infested forest bringing a lost child back to her mysteriously hidden village. At any moment we could be fighting for our very lives in this uninhabitable jungle. We could be killed, and our bodies never found." Ren stared at her for an uncomfortable 3 seconds before continuing. "Do _you_ think there's a restaurant around?"

For a moment Nora was unsure how to respond. Ren was rarely this sharp and unkind to her. Obviously something was bothering him. ' _Just grumble something under your breath.'_

"Well _someone's_ got their panties in a twist," she mumbled, her eyes tilted down and her bottom lip protruding ever so slightly. Jaune began to snicker, then cut off abruptly as Ren turned and faced him coldly.

Nora was hurt. But besides assuming an air of obviously pretended indignation, she showed no sign of it. The truth was, Nora had become exceedingly adept at hiding her feelings over the years. Sure, everyone thought that she was just that happy, noisy, crazy girl whose brief moments of gravity were few and far between. She was that person you could always go to for a laugh, that person who could talk hours on end without seeming to stop for air. This was the identity she wanted others to see: a slaphappy, irresponsible, and shallow (not to mention somewhat annoying) fellow Huntress-in-training.

It was all a facade. Beneath her bright pink exterior was a mind completely lacking in self-confidence. Everything that she said or did or heard or thought was questioned and debated internally. It was an exhausting process which only produced nervousness and second-guessing. Some days she almost broke down, coming so close to shattering the persona she had created for herself.

But then she had met Ren. He was like an anchor, a fixed point that she could latch onto. She never felt quite as worried about what to say or how to act when Ren was around. Her trust in him was stronger than in anyone or anything else in the world. His cool and calm demeanor, his phlegmatic approach to life so contrasted her own and appeared so much less overwhelming that she could not help but wish she was more like him.

Even from the day they'd met, all those years ago, he'd seen right through her emotional mask of a life.

… _.Nora was smiling. She was always smiling. At least when someone was around. She casually walked around the red brick corner of the orphanage. Immediately her mouth sagged and her eyebrows creased back into their more familiar, more preferred place. No one would see her here. No one ever came back here._

" _You know, you don't have to pretend all the time," spoke a voice from behind her. The familiar feeling of dread exploded through her stomach as quickly as the smile flew back to her face. She turned, not too slowly, but fast enough to make it seem natural. There was a young boy, about her age, sitting cross-legged in a tree above her. She was pretty sure she had seen him around the property at least once or twice before. His hair was long and black, his features what the teacher had called "oriental", and his composure completely calm. But what struck her was his eyes. They were magenta, and so full of depth and sorrow that for a moment Nora wondered what had caused them to become that way._ 'Duh' _her mind scolded. '_ We're at an _orphanage_ for heaven's sake!'

" _What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound genuine. The boy's_ _deep eyes filled with amused scepticism._

" _I've seen you back here sometimes," the strange boy continued. "I understand. You play the part of the fool to hide your pain inside._ This _is the real you._ This _is what you've tried so hard to conceal."_

 _Nora's mouth opened and shut. She could tell there was no way to deceive this boy any longer. Once again the churning in her stomach intensified. Her mind frantically began to run through scenarios. The boy would tell everyone: her secret would become common knowledge. She would be a laughingstock, alone and abandoned, just as she had been after her parents…_

" _It's okay," added the boy, dropping gracefully to the ground. "I won't tell anyone." Stepping forward he awkwardly held out his hand. "Call me Ren…"_

Ren was the only one who'd ever known her secret. He'd helped her overcome the worst of it, even if he didn't know it. His calming presence seemed to wash away the worry that welled up within her at every moment.

To the entire world she was Happy Nora (for whatever reason she'd always called that part of herself 'Pink'). To Ren, and to herself, she was just Nora (to counterbalance 'Pink', she'd always referred to the real her as 'White').

Life for Nora was a constant battle between these two sides of herself. Sure, being Pink Nora was easier, less stressful, and all-around more fun. But whenever she put on that smile and cocky attitude she felt dishonest, as if she was lying to herself and everyone around her. Ren avoided this topic whenever she brought it up, always saying, "We are who we make ourselves. It is not what is in the mind, but what is done by the body that determines who we wish to be." Then she would grumble and say that he stole the line from a fortune cookie. This would throw him into a long-winded spiel about Fate and Destiny and whether or not one has free will, which she would immediately ignore.

But today was different. Ren was almost always very kind and supportive, understanding and pitying the pain she bore.

' _At least it's better than what_ he _has to deal with'_ she thought absently, looking over at the magenta streak in his otherwise raven-black hair. ' _At least I get to be all loud and obnoxious. He has to bottle up everything inside and fight to keep himself in check all the time.'_ She shivered at the thought. In retrospect, she'd gotten the better end of the deal.

* * *

The day passed slowly. To avoid the torture of worrying about every instant, Nora set herself on autopilot. Pink Nora was free to be herself while White Nora took the backseat. She had been doing this more and more lately. It worked, but she always felt like a schizophrenic, like one part of her mind was going to try to take over the other. There was only one time when her two halves became one, and that was when…

 _Boom._

The trees shook. Nora found herself bounced several inches off the ground. She looked around at the others. They seemed just as confused as her. Ella's eyes were bulging out in dread.

 _Boom._

This one felt somewhat closer. Nora opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by another jarring slam.

 _Boom._

Now it was accompanied by howls and feral bellows. The rustling of dozens of Grimm in the trees nearby reached their ears.

 _Boom._

"We have to run!" It was Ella that spoke, her face pale and her eyes desperately searching the treetops.

 _Boom._

The deafening crashes continued, but Nora ignored them ('more like ig _ **Nora**_ d' them!' the Pink side of her chuckled gleefully). Chiding her mind on its bad timing she turned towards Jaune and Ruby, unsure who to look to as leader. They in turn looked back and forth at one another, their eyes screaming ' _no,_ _ **you**_ _say something!'_

"Ella is right." Amazingly it was Ren who took charge. "We need to get out of here."

Jaune looked quickly at the map, his face dripping with relief that someone else had made the decision. He pointed off into the woods.

"Ella's village is just over there," he stated shortly.

"But we'll be leading the Grimm right there," protested Ruby. Ella had already begun to run. Pausing at the comment she turned back.

"I promise, my home will be okay. It's hidden really well. Now let's go before the Great Terror gets us!"

* * *

Nora wasn't proud of it, but all she could think as her feet pounded into the forest floor over and over was, ' _Really? That's_ _the best name they could come up with for this thing?'_

But stupidly-named or not, the creature behind them did _not_ sound like fun. And if that wasn't enough, the hordes of Grimm running ahead of it were catching up. Nora risked a glance back. The first of the Beowolves was less than 50 feet behind them and gaining fast.

"I'm gonna slow them down!" she shouted to her friends. Without breaking stride they all nodded affirmation. Their first priority was Ella. Nora could catch up. ' _Besides,'_ her Pink side added. ' _They would just get in the way.'_

Skidding to a stop Nora pulled out her pink grenade launcher and spun it into her giant hammer. The first Beowolf didn't even know what had happened before it was flying several hundred feet through the air. The others snarled and lunged at her. Their fate was the same.

As she knocked aside various Grimm the savage joy of combat shot through her. This was the moment when there was no fear, no second guessing. This was both halves of her working as one. ' _This is how it should be_ all _of the time,"_ she mused.

Finally some of the bigger Grimm began to arrive. A trio of Ursas lumbered towards her with surprising speed. She crouched, preparing to leap into the air above them, when suddenly an unexpected _boom_ knocked her to the ground. With a look that can only be described as one of delight the sickeningly sharp claws of the creatures descended upon her. Instinctively she squeezed her eyes shut as the blows fell. Her Aura flickered to life, absorbing the force of the strikes that otherwise could have killed her. But she could feel it wearing down quickly. She needed an option _fast._

The crackling thunder of a bullet breaking the sound barrier ripped through the air. Nora felt a massive bullet slam into her metal hammer. Suddenly she was filled with a massive rush of energy. She could feel her Semblance activating, leaching away the electrical energy from Ruby's Dust-bullet and granting her a burst of inhuman strength. With a single blow she smashed the Grimm to the ground, then smashed them a few more times for good measure.

' _Time to go,'_ Nora decided. Already she could feel the electrical buzz wearing off. As she ran towards her friends she noticed a tiny dent on her hammer where Ruby's bullet had hit. She decided that she and Ruby would have a little _chat_ later.

Ren was standing outside of a small cave. He motioned for her to go inside, then stopped her before she could enter. The look in his eyes said, ' _I'm sorry,'_ as easily as if he'd said the words himself. Nora could only chuckle.

"You're still thinking about that? Wasn't that like 12 hours ago?"

Even Ren cracked a grin at that, and as they hurried into the cave Nora realized that she wasn't all that worried.


	4. Chapter 4

" _Change can be good for the soul. It helps us to see the world as well as ourselves from a different viewpoint. It helps us to grow. It makes us stronger. Nothing can stay the same forever. The only constant is change. We have to embrace it, or else it will consume us. Don't focus on changing what has happened. Instead, look to what the future might yet hold."_

Ruby had once believed those words of her father completely. They had been one of the few things that had helped her cope with her mother's death. They had led her to the path of her dream: to become a Huntress and change the world for the better. Those words were a part of who she was, and all she could become. Right now she wanted to throw her trust in them, just as she always had; to squeeze her eyes tight and just hope against hope that everything would turn out okay.

The worst part wasn't even everything _she'd_ been through. It was watching her friends, no, her family, be ripped apart by fear, calamity, disaster….

And death.

Ruby had always tried to be a good, strong leader, if not for herself then at least for her team. ' _And look where that got_ both _of your teams,'_ her rebellious mind gibbed cruelly. She was forced to reluctantly agree. First, Team RWBY. They had truly been the family she'd always wanted. Never, since the death of her mother, had life felt so _right_ , so full of purpose, than when she and Yang and Weiss and Blake had been a team. More than a team. A unit, like a single organism, working in perfect cohesion, bonded by a trust that transcended mere friendship….

Gone. In the blink of an eye. All of their work, all of their trust in each other, all of their hopes for the future. In one day, no, in several hours, she had lost it all. Blake had vanished, Weiss forced to return home, Yang….broken, in both body _and_ spirit.

Pyrrha. Dead.

The excruciating guilt washed over her like a swarm of locusts, eating away at her slight seed of hope until it was all but barren. She could not help but blame herself for all of it: _her_ team, _her_ friends, _her_ responsibility. She had been their leader. Whatever had happened that night was a reflection of _her_ lack of leadership capacity. She should have done _some_ thing different, anything. Instead she had watched, unmoving, as Pyrrha died and her team collapsed completely.

The only thing keeping her back from the precipice of despair was the hope that somehow, everything would turn out alright. It was all she had left to hold onto. That and her trust in the friends she still had. And those two things were just, _just_ barely enough to keep her moving, despite all of the changes that had come so quickly one after the other.

Now this. It was just one thing too many.

Ruby's mind skimmed back over the last half-hour to make sure she hadn't missed anything. To make sure she had heard the old man correctly. To make sure she wasn't going absolutely crazy.

She was really starting to hope she'd find one of those things to be true...

* * *

The cave was dark. The speck of light that was the entrance slowly began to shrink away as the little girl led them deeper and deeper. A dim glow emanating from Ella's body was the only thing that Ruby could see. It's pale gleam just barely illuminated the moss-covered walls to the point that Ruby could make out the dozens and dozens of tunnels that branched off in every imaginable direction. Ella didn't hesitate once, taking lefts and rights without so much as a pause.

"C'mon we have to hurry!" she continuously urged, a slight note of panic creeping into her voice. "The Great One may have stopped, but if even a single Grimm were to find the way inside…"

"I thought you said this place was safe," Jaune grumbled. "Now we're worrying about Grimm again?"

Ruby couldn't help but agree with his skepticism. But the cave was certainly better than the alternative.

Nora and Ren were strangely silent (maybe not strange for Ren, but Nora rarely let even a minute pass without at least shouting, " **There's too much silence!** "). Then again, Ruby had noticed that in combat Nora tended to be at least a _little_ more focused. ' _And near-death experiences tend to lend a tad bit of focus.'_ Ruby almost grinned. She'd had enough near-death experiences to know.

As for Ruby herself, she felt somewhat overwhelmed, and perhaps even a little sad. True, the morning had been crazy, but honestly no crazier than normal. This had kinda become normal life ever since she stepped foot onto Beacon Academy. But for whatever reason this whole adventure with little Ella felt like it was coming to a close. Truth be told, Ruby had come to enjoy the girl's company. Ella's enthusiasm was so similar to her own at that age. And her outward yet mysterious nature felt like a perfect mix of Ren and Nora's contrary personalities. Now Ella would be leaving, and Team RNJR would continue towards Haven. This strange interlude would fade into memory, just like all of her other adventures. And it felt wrong. There was something they were missing, a reason they had met this poor lost girl, and Ruby was det….

 _Smack!_ In her quiet contemplation Ruby had forgotten to look ahead. The dripping rocks seemed to laugh at her like ' _Loser, you fell right into our trap."_

' _Thank goodness for Aura,'_ she thought, just as she did like a hundred times a day. But looking forward all she saw was a rock wall, uncracked, unmoving, and most definitely _not_ Ella's village. She turned back to the little girl, who was concentrating furiously, her eyebrows furrowed and her face all scrunched up. If the situation hadn't seemed so serious Ruby would've thought the face was adorably funny.

"Sooooo…." Nora finally spoke, her previous silence obviously killing her. "You're village isn't called Rocksville by any chance?"

Ella, just like everyone else, ignored her. Ren held up his hands, clearly gesturing for all of them to just wait a moment.

And a moment was all it took.

Just as the girl's eyelids began to crack open, so did the rock wall before them start to break apart, the bottom edge slowly scraping towards the ceiling.

At their feet slowly crawling up their legs was an ocean of golden light. Cool air whooshed through the cave around them and the scent of a thousand flowers quickly suffused the air around them. As the all-consuming light finally reached her face Ruby was forced to squeeze her eyes tightly together and shield herself with her hand. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Nora and Jaune doing the same. Ren was merely squinting, and Ella wasn't fazed at all.

Eventually Ruby's eyes adjusted. She turned and saw that although Nora was still trying to bear the blazing light, Jaune and Ren were already walking out of the cave, as if in a trance.

Ruby looked out of the newly-formed entrance and soon realized why.

It was beautiful. Everything about it.

Stretching out before her as far as she could see was a picturesque village. To her left the leafy tops of a small forest swayed majestically in the slight wind. To her right several dozen fields inhabited by an equal number of different fruits and vegetables were calmly being cultivated by a few score of farmers. A babbling brook splashed playfully through the middle of it all. A small stone bridge led over the top.

The village was still a ways off, but Ruby could make out the slanting roofs and wooden walls of those nearest. Looking beyond these she realized that this village was far greater in size than she had previously imagined. The land sloped down farther off, but the buildings themselves grew bigger and bigger. Right in the middle of them all soared a massive tower, not nearly as large as Beacon, but still dwarfing all of the surrounding buildings.

With a small gasp Ruby realized that she was looking at not a village, but rather an entire city. Her teammates were quickly coming to the same conclusion. Except for Nora, who suddenly cried out, "Look! Cows!"

Ruby couldn't help but follow the path of the happy girl's finger. And indeed, cows there were, a herd of them being driven into the pasture by a few men riding horses. A flock of sheep was already moving out of the way, pursued by a pair of joyous sheepdogs whose enthusiasm continually expressed itself in explosive barking.

Ruby spun in a small circle. The entire village, or rather city, was surrounded by massive cliffs that soared hundreds of feet into the air. Suddenly Ella's earlier words made sense. The city _was_ well protected: it was impregnably defended. They were dug down into a massive mountain whose top was gone, providing safety to all of those within. No Grimm could hope to make it down those walls except…

"What about flying Grimm?" she asked out loud. Ella, smiling from ear to ear couldn't hear her. No one else had any answers.

The insanity of the whole thing began to hit her. A city, cut off from the world inside a _mountain?_ A functioning society with enough food, water, and resources for thousands of people, not on any map and unknown by the entirety of Remnant. The thought was ridiculous. She must be…

An old man's voice broke through her wild mash of thoughts. She turned, still in a daze, and saw all of her friends staring at a smiling but elderly man standing right in front of her. Two much younger much taller men flanked him on either side, clearly demonstrating his authority in this city.

Ruby suddenly remembered that he had spoken. Her face flushed red as she realized she didn't recall what he had said.

The man merely smiled wider and repeated his statement.

"Miss Rose. I was wondering when you might finally arrive. Welcome to the Kingdom of Refuge…"

 **End of Part One**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's been so long. No excuse, just procrastination. Please, if you dislike, tell me why and what to fix. And if this is getting boring, just say the word. This is only for you (and because I love to write and am always trying to improve). More updates pending, hopefully at least every week.**

 **P.S. This interlude introduces a character about whom I'm thinking of writing an independent story. If you want to know more about him, or if you like that idea, check out "** _ **The Soulless One."**_ **And of course, tell me if you think it'll be cool.**

* * *

 _ **Interlude**_

 _As the thundering footsteps of their leader faded away into the forest, the Grimm dispersed throughout the trees began to lumber off in various directions, some in large packs, others alone. Each, had it the ability to accurately describe its feelings, would have admitted several different emotions._

 _The first was a deep sense of disgust. Their prey had escaped. The five humans had hidden somewhere in the deep, winding paths through the mountain, the same place where so many humans had fled before. The tunnels were too numerous to pursue anyone who made it within. Many was the Grimm that had foolishly charged into the yawning cave after their quarry. None had ever returned._

 _The second was a sense of awe. Normally the humans in this area simply ran immediately to the safety of the mountain at the first sign of Grimm activity. These, at least the one with the huge club, had stood and fought bravely. It was the first fight most of the Grimm in that forest had seen. It left them hungry for more._

 _Their final feeling was quite new to them, not in the sense that they'd never beheld it before, but rather they had never before_ felt _it. For the first time, upon seeing the red-cloaked girl with the flashing silver eyes, they had been struck with fear._

 _Now fear was a normal part of every Grimm's day. Fear was a Grimm's way of finding food. With some inexplicable sixth sense a Grimm could follow the 'scent' of fear and worry for miles, like a shark smelling blood in the water and, following it to its source, devouring it mercilessly. It was this very thing which made it difficult to find the paths through the mountain. The peace and lack of fear exuding from it acted on the Grimm like bug repellent, keeping them from getting too close to whatever lay in its center._

 _But to_ see _fear and to_ experience _it are two very different things. The first was familiar. The second, unbearable. The Grimm had gone from hunters to prey. And as any cornered prey will do, they were preparing to lash out._

* * *

Ian was meditating. Or rather, he was _pretending_ to meditate. _Attempting_? Perhaps. But it was that kind of attempting in which one knows that he will accomplish nothing, and that the entire exercise is simply a waste of time. Mercifully, a gong sounded somewhere far outside behind him. The meditation was over.

He groaned as he spread apart his aching knees. The joints in the right one popped sharply. He stood, relishing the feeling of blood finally flowing unhindered through his veins. Twisting right and left he stretched his back as well, resulting in a sound not unlike one stepping on a pile of thin dry sticks.

' _This is getting me nowhere,'_ he complained mentally. ' _All these months of meditations and this inner peace crap.'_ The thought amused him. As if _he_ could ever have inner peace. All he really wanted to return to was combat training. It was the only thing he could actually do in this place, and even in that he was severely handicapped. Sometimes it all felt so pointless, like he should just give up and return home empty handed.

' _What home?'_ his brain taunted. He sighed. Right now _she_ was the only thing he had left of that place.

But even more than that, he had promised too many people that he would stay and learn. Learn to fight. Learn to kill. _That_ was the reason he couldn't quit. Every grueling day he struggled through was a day closer to his revenge.

He awaited the rebuke of his conscience. To most boys of his age, any thoughts of revenge were met with severe disapproval of the spirit, something along the lines of, ' _C'mon, you know you shouldn't be thinking that.'_ The conscience was what proved you had something spiritual within you, some guiding hand helping you to remain moral in this world. It struck him that a conscience and an Aura were not so different after all. Both were manifestations of the soul. They just manifested differently.

Not so with him. It had been months since any trace of spirit, conscience or other, had shown itself. The teachers kept telling him it was because of what had happened that day. They said that with time this wound like any other would heal. As if they knew what really _had_ happened. Ian knew, somehow, that this would never go away. Every day he would awake thinking, ' _Perhaps today I'll_ feel _something. Some sign that they were right, and that I'm not some kind of soulless monster, like the Grimm.'_

It had never happened. At least not yet. He would continue to hope. But he'd resigned himself to life without it. He'd begun to wonder if maybe he was better off _without_ an unlocked Aura. He'd been listening to the talks of one of the Zealots in the town. He was considering joining….

A buzz of conversation outside his room drew his attention. He looked out his window. In the courtyard a crowd composed of faculty and students was beginning to form. He could tell by the general pitch of the noise that something had aroused their interest. He was suddenly filled with the itching desire to join them. Whatever was happening, he did not want to be the last to see it.

The desire became irresistible. He flung open the door, pausing only to consider whether or not to grab his thin metal stick he used as a weapon. Deciding against it, he darted out of his room and into the hallway. It was impossible that the commotion was an attack, and the students didn't need anymore reason to think him strange than they already did.

As he sprinted down the 3 flights of stairs that led to the ground level, he noticed the usual stares and whispers from the other students. He had grown adept at ignoring them, and he put this skill to good use on his way. Just before reaching the courtyard a thought struck him: should he go get her? She might want to see what was going on for herself.

He stood before her door, his hand raised to knock. He paused. Was he _nervous?_ With an skeptical laugh he pushed the thought away. Nervous of what?

He knocked. There was no response from within. Of course not. She couldn't have responded even if she wanted. He pushed the door half open. He knew she wouldn't mind.

A girl several years older (although slightly shorter) than himself sat on her bed, her back towards him. She was staring out at the sky, just like she always did. He thought he saw her wiping away a tear as she turned to face him. Beside her lay a small pink parasol, the color perfectly matching the dye of the right side of her head. Her clothing was of the same shade and _certainly_ not within the limits of the dress code. But then again, she was hardly what one would call a student there.

She stared at him expectantly, one eye deep brown, the other a soft pink. Ian wasn't sure if that was the color they'd been before, but he knew she would not respond if he inquired.

"Hey Neo," he began, his voice slightly higher than he'd meant it to be. "There's something going on outside and I was wondering if you, uh, wanted to go see what it was." The words sounded foolish, but he could think of no better way to phrase them. Neo grinned back at him and pointed out the window.

Ian could have smacked himself in the face. Of course she didn't want to come out. She could see everything through her window. Chuckling for absolutely no reason, he nodded his understanding. "Oh, duh. Stupid me. I guess you don't really need to come out at all." Neo smiled kindly to show her affirmation. Then she sat and waited for him to leave. This he did, after a hasty wave and a not-well-thought-out "talk to you later."

Grimacing, he walked out into the courtyard. The source of the disruption was all too apparent. Walking towards the Academy, beside the Head of the Council, were four teens, dressed in clothes _definitely_ not from Refuge, bearing various bags and…..

Weapons.

Ian could feel the rage bubbling up within him. His heart rate tripled and his hands clenched into fists. Strangers, travelers. From one of the outside Kingdoms. With weapons.

They were Huntsmen. ' _And Huntresses,'_ his mind chided as they grew close enough to distinguish. He promptly told his mind to shut up.

He felt himself pushing forward through the crowd. He wished he had brought his weapon. His blood raced through his veins faster with each step. This was the beginning of his revenge. This was when he would finally start to make good on his promise to his brother―

" _Derek_?" someone asked as he shouldered them aside. It took him a moment to realize that they were talking to him. It always did. He turned and saw that it was Aiden, one of the few people that treated him like a normal human being. _That_ was only because Aiden's parents had joined the Zealots and forbidden their children from having their Auras unlocked. It had made them a part of the same group of 'weirdos', albeit Aiden less than himself.

"Whoa, Derek slow down," the boy continued. "You don't look alright. Is something wrong?"

Ian wanted to yell. He wanted to scream, " _Of course something's wrong you blathering idiot! Why else would my soul refuse to respond? Why else would I be an Outsider? Why else would I use my dead brother's name instead of my own?"_

Instead he ignored the boy, ignored the crowd, ignored everything except the four Huntsmen. He would finally have his revenge.

He felt a hand on his arm. He turned and saw Neo staring straight at him. Her eyes were filled with so many emotions, so many questions, that Ian was unable to even begin to unravel them. All she did was shake her head. Them she was gone, vanished in a flash of light. He was left gaping at nothing. He stood still for several seconds, then strained to look over the crowd at her window. There was a blur of motion, then the blinds were drawn. Ian was left gasping in the ocean of people like a fish pulled from its home and left upon the dock to rot.

His anger was still there, but he trusted Neo too much to do anything rash now. She was, after all, the only reason he was here, let alone _alive._ Turning back he joined in with the crowd staring at the visitors as if they were from another world.

The time for revenge would come. He would never let his hatred of the Huntsmen cool, not after what they had done. Not after what they _hadn't_ done. They would get justice. He didn't know when. But someday.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part Two**

 _ **A New Beginning**_

' _This place is strange.'_

Ruby almost laughed aloud at her own understatement. _Strange_ hardly did the place justice. Not necessarily strange in a bad way. More like in how it parallelled the outside world. So similar in so many ways, but at the same time so _alien_ , like someone had taken everything she'd ever known and just twisted it ever so slightly. She felt oddly comfortable in this place, as if she was just back in Beacon, studying to become a Huntress. Here she could pretend that nothing bad had ever happened.

Nora snored loudly on the bunk bed above her. From across the room she could hear Jaune's sleepless groan at the deafening sound. Ren was sitting cross-legged on his bed meditating. Ruby smiled. Everything felt so normal. This was probably how nights had gone back before...

She suddenly realized that her bed was where Pyrrha would have slept, had she been alive to be here.

Ruby felt herself drifting off to sleep. It had been a long day. Tomorrow would bring some sort of explanation to the confusion of this place. But for now there was nothing she could do but sleep. Her worries melted into resignation, and she remembered nothing more.

 _She was standing over her mother's grave, her scarlet hood flapping in the stiff breeze. Rose petals swirled around her like snowflakes in a blizzard. Gradually there were more and more of them, whipping past her and blocking the world from view. She cried out as one sliced across her hand, drawing blood. It withered as it cut through her, dying and falling to the ground at her feet. Then they were all flashing past, cutting her arms, legs, face, and any other exposed skin. She screamed in agony, feeling each and every one as it bit into her flesh. Her hood abandoned her, flying off into the maelstrom._

 _Finally all was quiet. Hesitantly, Ruby cracked an eyelid. She was standing amidst a blood-splattered mountain of wilted rose petals. A pair of them shot up into her eyes. Everything went black._

* * *

"I'm sure you have many questions." The old man was talking again. Ruby found it hard to pay attention. Her eyelids drooped. She was still tired. The people here woke as the sun rose, something that she found horrifying. ' _Give me a pack of Beowolves anyday, just let me sleep till 9.'_ They'd been given breakfast (all organic), then immediately been brought to what Ruby could only assume was a classroom of sorts. There were at least a dozen people there, most of whom were dressed in fancy, albeit somewhat archaic, clothing. The only ones she recognized were the old man (dressed in flowing robes and complete with bodyguards) and Ella, who stood by a woman who bore a striking resemblance to herself. It was obviously her mother, or at least a close relation. The little girl seemed intimidated by the status of the people around her, but had nevertheless waved at the four when they had entered.

The old man cleared his throat. Ruby's slumping neck snapped back to attention. She'd never been good at staying awake in class. Pausing for just a moment, the man continued.

"However, as the safety of our city is in peril, we must be the first to ask the questions."

"So it's an interrogation," Jaune said, seeming as surprised as everyone else to hear himself speak.

"If you will."

Ruby frowned, and was pleased to see that everyone but Ren was doing the same. They had all come to the same conclusion. ' _Interrogation'_ was usually followed by ' _prisoners'._

A man dressed completely in black stepped forward, glaring at the four of them. His finger was threateningly pointed towards them, like a teacher scolding a student.

"How did you find this place? Why are you here? Did you bring anyone else with you? The Huntsmen? Did the Grimm follow you?" His face was red with anger, and Ruby noticed a few specks of spittle flying from his mouth during his tirade.

When he had finished the old man motioned for him to calm down, then to them for an answer. The teammates looked at each other briefly. Ruby was about to stand and reply, but Jaune's hand on her shoulder kept her in her place. She watched, amazed, as he himself stood up, cleared his throat, and began.

"Umm, so we got here by following her," he began, pointing at Ella. "We're here cause...we were following her. We only brought...well, her, and no, the Grimm got lost in the caves."

And with his eloquent speech complete, Jaune sat back down. Ren had his head in his hands, but Nora was air-clapping like crazy. The man in black looked even angrier than before and stepped forward again to respond, but before he could speak, Ruby stood.

"Look, we found Ella scared and alone in the woods. We brought her back here. Now we'll be on our way, back towards Haven, back to our mission. You get Ella, we get to continue. It's win-win; just let us go back to our journey."

Ruby didn't want to leave Ella here. She'd gotten use to not being the youngest for once. And the little girl was both mysterious and funny, as well as a general joy to be around. But these were her people, her family. She would be happier here. Ruby would miss her, even though it had only been a week or so.

Ruby wondered why the old man was chuckling quietly. Sure, her own speech had not been particularly elegant, but she'd gotten her point across. It hadn't been anything to laugh about.

"Forgive my rudeness, Ms Rose," the old man said, trying to stifle his laughter. "You are foreigners, and don't understand our rules. You can't just _leave._ I'm afraid you'll all be staying here for quite some time."

Silence.

Then the mechanical grinding of Crescent Rose unfolding. The six-foot scythe opened like the fangs of a King Taijitu, smashing apart a desk as it bit into the classroom floor. Her sniper was pointed straight at the cloaked old man. On either side Ruby's friends were drawing their weapons as well: Nora's hammer, Jaune's sword and shield, and, hesitantly, Ren's blade-guns.

Ruby knew it was rash. But she'd been getting weird vibes ever since she'd gotten there, and quite honestly she'd had enough of this place and everyone's condescending attitudes.

"Let. Us. Leave." Her voice was cold and unfeeling. She shivered at its sound. This wasn't her. This wasn't how she acted. ' _They threatened your friends. They're stopping your journey."_ And that was the clincher. Ruby had seen one team ripped apart under her leadership. She wasn't going to let _anything_ happen to this one.

In retrospect, probably an overreaction. But it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

The crowd of people freaked, just like Ruby had expected. They ran every which way, hiding behind desks, diving through doors, and leaping out windows. All except the old man. She aimed her sights straight at him. He was no longer smiling.

A small white face appeared right in front of her. Ruby instinctively yanked her gun away. And there, tears glistening in her eyes, was Ella, her hands held up in surrender, looking at Ruby with an expression of pure betrayal.

"Please don't fight them," she begged simply.

Crescent Rose seemed to fold up with a mind of its own. Ruby couldn't aim a gun at an 8 year old girl. The sight of Ella was enough to get everyone to put away their weapons. But Ruby would not let them keep her there.

"What's it gonna take to let us leave?" she asked the old man. "Because we're _not_ staying here." He was looking at her like, " _I knew this was going to happen."_

"Allow me to expound upon my earlier statement," he said. "Everyone here gets the choice to stay or leave _provided_ they prove themselves capable of surviving in the harsh conditions of the outside world. When I said you would be staying, I simply meant until you get the opportunity to take the _test._ "

Nora laughed. "Do we really look like we can't handle ourselves? We've fought hundreds, no, _thousands_ of Grimm in our day. We're Huntsmen and Huntresses in training!" Her expression darkened. "Or at least, we were…"

Ruby was starting to get sick of the old man's smiles.

"My dear, I have been a teacher for many, _many_ years. Preparation is not about conquering what the world throws at you. Preparation is conquering yourself. And," he continued, his gaze hanging over Ren for just a moment too long. "I am quite sure that _none_ of you have done that."

"Enough." Jaune interjected. "I for one am ready to leave as soon as possible. But we'll humor you. What's this so-called 'test' we have to take?"

More and more Ruby was impressed by Jaune's changes in personality. He seemed somewhat more in control now, especially ever since they'd entered this strange kingdom of Refuge.

"If I were you," the old man said softly. "I would not be so eager to leave this place. It is the last hope of Remnant, the one candle when all other flames have been extinguished. This place is home to all those who wish to take shelter in the storm…."

The man saw the exasperated looks in all the faces around him. He sighed. "Only the top team in the Academy is permitted to take the test. You'll have to prove yourselves against the students here. And _that_ means you'll be joining the school this semester."

Ruby's expression hardened. She was half a second away from leaving whether he wanted them to or not. They didn't _have_ a semester. They needed to be in Haven _yesterday._ Even Ren's look of ' _be patient'_ was not enough to stop her.

"You know, Miss Rose," the man continued. "Your mother was my best student in her year."

Then he walked away.

Silence.

"Well, I guess we're staying, huh," Nora said.


End file.
